Scorecard Volume 55, No. 4 July/August 2023

July/August 2023

Volume 55, No. 4

President’s Message

By Betty Starzec President District 16

July 2023: As I write this post, it is mid-June and I am getting excited about the San Antonio Regional, July 3-9. Even if you have not yet booked your reservations, I would still like you to consider coming to San Antonio to play in the tournament. While many players still have not returned to face-to-face play, we need to recognize that the contracts for most of our sectional and regional tournaments were negotiated pre-Covid. This means that our units are facing significant losses due to failure to meet room requirements. So, again, I am asking you to consider going to San Antonio (and other tournaments), especially if you have not yet returned to face-to-face play.

The new Executive Director for the ACBL, Bronia Jenkins of Vero Beach, Florida wants, “Bridge to be fun at whatever level it’s played,” and has started some initiatives to make that happen including reconnecting with lapsed members and encouraging a return to face-to-face play. This initiative will include a follow-up at the unit and/or club level for a personal touch. For me, playing face-to-face and seeing friends in person at the table is worth its weight in gold. I look forward to seeing many more positive initiatives from Bronia.

At the time this is printed new ACBL Online Community Games for players with fewer than 50 masterpoints will have taken place on June 20. Obviously I cannot tell you how successful this was, but the ACBL recognizes that it is difficult for clubs to have successful games for the 0-50 crowd. What makes this special is that it starts with a quick bridge tip, followed by 12 boards played on BBO and finishes with a Zoom mini-lesson. Let’s hope these community games (0-20 and 0-50) will find a regular place for our newcomers in their schedule. To me, the end game, of course, is to make them comfortable playing in our face-to-face clubs with more seasoned players.

Obviously, this post has focused on the return to face-to-face play. We need our clubs and tournaments to be successful but it all begins with you!

Looking forward to seeing many of you in San Antonio at the Fourth of July Regional!

August

August

Upcoming D16 Tournaments

President

Betty Starzec

District 16 Officers

First Vice-President Second Vice-President

Ken Monzingo

Dave Ticen

Secretary Executive Treasurer

Kristen Onsgard

Tom Trudeau

Immediate Past President

Nancy Strohmer

Committee Chairs

Awards Charity

Sandy Potts Nancy Strohmer

Disciplinary District Appellate

Rebecca Brown Jonathan Ernst

STaC

Tomi

Financial Verifier Recorder

Jim Woodward

Jack LaVigne

Tournament / Sanction Applications

Scott Humphrey

Lecture Series

James Moody, Linda Griffith and Patricia Herrera (Spanish)

Regional Director's Update

By Paul Cuneo District 15,

16

Regional Director

Bronia Jenkins reported to work on May 10 and my tenure as Interim Executive Director ended. Bronia asked me to remain actively engaged in the organization and I am committed to doing so.

ACBL is off to a very good start to 2023. The budget for the year was formally approved by the board at the New Orleans meeting and shows positive income from operations over $100,000. Through April the income from operations is $256,000, and I think the year will end with around $500,000 from operations. The turn around from the $800,000 plus loss in 2022 was through streamlining the management structure plus a series of income additions and cost reductions agreed by the board.

The best news is on the membership front where both April and May have shown membership gains totaling 839 people. We are still down 500 members from January 1, but plans are in place to support teachers and clubs with their efforts to increase membership so I am optimistic that we will end 2023 significantly better.

ACBL Board and League

Bronia is bringing new ideas and high energy to the position. The board and league employees are optimistic about the future of ACBL as the relationship between the board and management is the best I have seen. Information is being freely shared and there are frequent meetings to address questions, concerns and needed changes. Keeping this open, collaborative environment is critical as we go forward.

In 2024, the board will have 13 members. Con-

gratulations to Joann Glasson on her election as Region 3 Director effective January 1, 2024. She was unopposed. Significant board time will be spent in Chicago discussing the operating mode in 2024 as we move from a “motion driven” board to continue a less formal and more effective model for the future.

Tournaments and Face-to-Face Clubs

Tournaments continue to struggle financially as attendance is higher than 2022 but significantly lower than pre-pandemic. Face-to-face clubs continue to see more total tables as members return to play, but many rent-paying clubs are struggling. The number of online VACB clubs continues to decline as virtual games shrink in attendance. All of this is fallout from the pandemic.

Membership Growth and Recruitment

The challenge is to recruit more people to learn bridge, convert them to new members, bring back lapsed members and increase membership retention. While it will not be easy, I’m optimistic that working together we can achieve significant growth over the next several years. Several efforts are being planned by ACBL in each area and you’ll see them throughout the remainder of 2023. Not all will be successful, but we’ll expand the successful ones and learn from the others and keep trying. Thanks to all of you who teach and volunteer with these efforts!

The Most Beautiful Game in the World ♠

By Patricia Herrera D16 Education Coordinator

Bridge makes me want to be a better person. I think it does that to many. Another reason why it is the most beautiful game in the world. At the very least, bridge makes us want to be better players. We have talked about different ways to improve our game in many different ways: playing, reading, taking lessons, watching videos, kibitzing, etc.

What about the different topics we should be learning? Have you thought of bridge in that way? I have found that one of the most useful ways of improving the game is by making a list of the topics I need to master. “Divide and Conquer,” said Philip II of Macedon. And I have found it to be a very useful way to improve my game.

The first thing we have to do is to make a list of what the many “parts” of the game are. I will share mine with you hoping that you find it useful, but feel free to adjust your own.

Bidding: Hand Evaluation

As an opener

As a responder

When interfering

Overcalls

At the 1 level

At the 2 level

Preempts

Vulnerable

Non vulnerable

At the two level

At the three level

Others

Responses

Forcing bids 1 round

Game forcing bids

To partner’s 1NT opening

To partner’s 2NT opening

To partner’s 3NT opening

To partner’s 2C opening

To partner’s preempt

Supporting partner’s Major With a 3 card support With a 4 card support

Responding without a Major fit

Rebids

Opener’s rebid when unbalanced

Opener’s rebid when balanced

Conventions:

Do we really want to use many?

Which ones to use and when

Ace / Key card asking

Defense:

General Strategy

Counting defense tricks

Opening Leads

Versus Suit

Versus Notrump

Carding

Discards

Play of the hand

Counting tricks

Ruffing in dummy

Establishing a second suit

Filling out a convention card

As you can see, the list can be as big or small as you want. What really matters is that making a list of topics will help you understand the game better and therefore it will help you play better which will allow you to win more which, in turn, (we all know this) will make you a happier person. And that’s what life is about

I would love to hear your ideas and/or comments. We are all together in this.

Patricia Herrera is a Mexican bridge player. She is also the President of the Mexican Bridge Federation. When she is not playing bridge, she runs a nonprofit consulting firm based in Mexico City. You can reach her at: herrerapatricia@gmail.com

D16 North American Pairs (NAP) ♠ Summer Cycle Begins

By Larry Davis D16 NAP Coordinator

16 players are strongly encouraged to play in NAP games offered at the club levels beginning in June and continuing in July and August. You can play in such NAP games as many times as you’d like (even after you’ve earned a qualification to play at the district level). You can play in any club in the ACBL –even if said club is not in your unit or district.

No unit level qualification is required to advance to the district level (held at the January sectional in San Antonio in 2024).

NAP games award very well in masterpoints – plus

Districthalf of any points earned are red points. There are three NAP stratifications: 0-500 (NLM), 501-2500 and 2500+. Your stratification is dependent upon your masterpoint holding as of the May 7 ACBL monthly determination. Even if you later “advance” to the next higher stratification, for NAP purposes it remains as it was on May 7. If you play at the district level, you may play with any District 16 player in your stratification who qualified. There is no requirement that you must play with the partner with whom you previously played.

New Members

April 2023 - May 2023

April 2023 - May 2023

Nelda

Reporting D16 70% + Games

The D16 70% + Club recognizes members who have scored 70% or higher scores in one of the district’s club masterpoint game that is open or non-restricted. (For example, masterpoint-restricted games or country club games restricted by membership do not qualify. Nor do cruise games, sectional or regional games.)

At least four tables with at least 16 boards must be in play.

70% + Games must be reported to the Scorecard. These results are not automatically picked up from club files. The club director, manager or any player may send an email to: D16EditorScorecard@gmail.com with the subject: D16 70% + Club

A game recap file or an online link to the posted results must be included in the email. Be sure to include the club’s name and location. Games will be reported on a first come first served basis as space is available.

Member Profiles

Bridge, Bikes and Bumps Unit 176 Fairview

By Anne Goodman

Hello,my name is Anne Goodman. I play bridge in the Dallas, McKinney, and Plano area and have been a member of ACBL since 2016. I’m currently a Silver Life Master. I reached Life Master at the NABC in Reno in March of 2022. It was such a wonderful experience and quite a thrill to obtain Life Master at a national tournament. But, that’s not the reason why I’m writing to you. Joe Gill, one of the better players at our club suggested I send you my story.

I ride Harleys and have been riding for over 50 years. I’m the Ladies of Harley Officer for our local chapter of HOG and had a Harley-related event after the club game that day so I wore my Harley Davidson shirt. As my partner and I came to Joe’s table, he saw my shirt and asked if I actually rode or if I just like the shirt. He was pretty surprised that I rode. We chatted a few minutes then the round was called, so my partner and I moved to the next table. He later mentioned that he thought the ACBL would like to hear my story.

One funny thing that keeps happening and is consistent through the years is that people I play bridge with are shocked that I ride a motorcycle, and the people that I ride Harleys with are shocked that I play bridge. Two passions that bring me true joy and at the same time offer many challenges, one mental challenges and the other physical challenges.

I enjoy hearing their amazement, statements by individuals of either group are enlightening. One of my bridge friends asked me if I go out for a bike ride just to practice riding my bike before I go on a long trip. My motorcycle friends tell other friends, “Yes, Anne plays bridge and she and her partner travel to tournaments and they actually win.” Because they state it as though I’m some kind of rock star, I try to explain that there are a lot of different bridge levels and sections that a person can win within their own category. Of course the question always comes up about how much money does a person win.

Riding has actually helped my bridge. Sounds funny to say that doesn’t it? However, it’s true. On long rides, some of my fellow bikers listen to music, podcasts, etc. Not me! I study my birdge conventions. I have my conventions written on note cards in my fork bag (the bag that is attached to the inside of the windshield for handy access by the rider). Before we start the ride, I read a note card then put it back in the bag and for the next hour as I ride down the road I can memorize the steps of that convention and practice those steps in my head with each level depending on my partner’s response for that specific convention. I’ll test myself and once we stop or even if we’re at a long red light, I’ll pull out the card to see if I have it correct.

Anne Goodman on Her 105th Anniversary Limited Edition 2008 Softail Deluxe

Computer Guy - Doug Boswell Unit 174 Conroe

By Evvie Gilbert

Doug Boswell has been playing bridge for over 50 years. He guesses about 25 years playing party bridge and 25 playing duplicate bridge. Doug was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and went to college in Kansas City where he was originally a mathematics major. He eventually graduated with a degree in social sciences and a minor in business. He joined McDonnel Douglas after graduating and moved to Denver where he worked as a programmer mainly using COBOL.

After a few years of programming, Doug found it to be boring, so he changed to a position doing sales support. He soon realized the role was a lot of work, and the remuneration was small compared to the sales personnel. It was the sales personnel making the “big bucks” so he switched to sales where he spent the rest of his career.

Doug left McDonnel Douglas to head an office of a start-up company, and eventually moved to the Ft. Worth area even though he said he’d never live in Texas. After the move to Ft. Worth, Doug joined ACBL in 1996 and started playing at the Ft. Worth Bridge Studio. Due to work constraints he was only able to play once a week.

In 1999 a position opened in the Houston area with IBM so Doug moved south and started playing at the Clear Lake Bridge Club with (now) long-time partner Rodney McCullough. Turns out that Rodney and he had a Ft. Worth partner in common although they had never met each other while both were living in Ft. Worth. Doug and Rodney amassed most of their masterpoints playing at tournaments so by the time Doug had 200 total masterpoints, he had earned the required pigmented points for his Life Master. So, it was just a matter of earning any points. He became a Life Master in 2006 and in the summer of 2022, he achieved his Silver Life Master.

Doug now lives on the north side of Houston where he is a member of the Lone Star Bridge Club (LSBC). He previously served on that club’s board and today he’s their “computer” guy. He publishes their weekly club newsletter, he is the club’s webmaster (https://lonestarbridgeclub.org) and he is often found assisting the club’s directors to set up games. In addition to those activities, he is also a dealer.

When not playing bridge and doing all of the LSBC volunteer work, he and his wife Carrie are Class A motor homers. They have traveled coast to coast and made many friends along the way.

Doug has also restored/rebuilt a few antique cars: Model A and Original GT Mustang.

Doug and Carrie have four children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Very busy man indeed!

Evvie Gilbert is a member of the Clear Lake Bridge Club and editor of both the "Unit 174 Newsletter" and the Scorecard.

Doug Boswell

Unit 183 Fort Worth

By John Robbins

Linda Spangler

Linda Spangler who at 85 still holds court and politely intimidates opponents twice a week from table number one in Fort Worth.

With 15,000+ points and counting she is very near the top of the heap for the unit, despite having earned many of those points in a day when they were vastly harder to get than they are now. Not to mention the fact that she earned them while working full-time, first as a legal secretary at a white-shoe firm and later as operator of her own bridge club in the Dallas area.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Linda’s personality is her willingness to share her expertise. Early on in tackling open games, I often asked her questions about bidding or play after the hands were over and she never failed to offer diplomatic and thoughtful answers. After a while I had asked her so many times for advice, she would just volunteer it after we played, always without looking down her nose and always to my advantage.

Linda got started in bridge shortly after graduating first in her class in high school and began working at the attorney general’s office in Austin. She bought a dollar book by Charles Goren and started playing bridge at lunch with other young ladies working at the capitol in a group that eventually expanded to include two tables one night a week.

Her 50 years of playing duplicate started in 1971 when she played in her first tournament and finished third. Over the years she changed jobs to work at a major law firm, married, raised two sons and a daughter, and continued playing bridge. Among other things, bridge became a major focus of her vacations. She went to a lot of tournaments, sightseeing in the mornings or evenings, while meeting new people from all over the country and of course amassing masterpoints.

By the time her children graduated from high school, she had opened and was running the Valley View Bridge Club while continuing to play in tournaments. One tournament was in 1975 in Lubbock,

where she needed a partner and says they “dumped this young kid on me named Bobby Baldwin.” A few years later Baldwin was to gain international recognition as the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker, and she says he could definitely play bridge.

Through her connection with Baldwin, Linda later got to take the seat of a delayed Oswald Jacoby on a private plane with Baldwin, Jim Jacoby, Terry Gibson and Bob Hamman to fly to a tournament in Nashville. On the plane she stayed out of a bridge game at $4 a point (yikes) but played with Terry’s wife Leita in the masters game and won the initial event

Over the years Linda has had some health issues but has fully survived cancer and copes with a bad back that hinders her mobility through her own perseverance and continuing support from her family and bridge player Gary Neissler. Gary brings her to the weekly games and also helps her out with other things around the house.

And her memory is still sharp as a tack. Linda recalls in detail every card in her hand and all the bidding in the final round of her first win at a regional, and especially values the memory of winning a Dallas Regional knockout against Bob Hamman’s team. In those years she says a few friends created a takeoff on her name and started calling her the ‘Star-Spangled’ player.

Along with all the positives of her life in bridge there are a couple of unfavorite things. One is being misquoted about advice she gave someone (hopefully not me). The other is “listening to an opponent berating his or her partner … especially when they’re completely wrong to start with.”

Bridge has obviously been a key part of Linda’s life and she greatly values the way it has allowed her to explore a wide variety of interesting places and meet a lot of nice people. How does she define the game? “Bridge is a complicated game for masochistic people,” she says. And as usual, she’s right. Nobody has ever beat bridge, but Linda Spangler has managed to get more out of it for more years than almost anybody I can think of.

John Robbins is the Unit 183 Scorecard reporter.

Linda Spangler

The Yellow Brick Road - The Trek to Emerald (Life Master) Unit 174 Houston

By Gil Micheletti

Follow the...

Follow the yellow brick road

Follow the yellow brick road

Follow, follow, follow, follow

Follow the yellow-brick road

Follow the yellow-brick, follow the yellow-brick

Follow the yellow-brick road

(Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg)

Suchwas the advice sung to Dorothy, as she journeyed to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz. It would be beset with opponents, but also blessed with friends. Such was my own trek to Emerald Life Master.

My journey began in the 1970’s when I decided to learn bridge seriously. The mainstay of my education was Alfred Sheinwold’s book “Five Weeks to Winning Bridge.” Over time, I learned that book backward and forward. The other pillar of my learning was the Dallas Aces’ column in the newspaper, especially articles by Bobby Wolff. Little did I know that, many years later, I would play on a Swiss Team with Mr. Wolff.

Grounded in my new knowledge, I went to the local Atlanta bridge club. As I built partnerships I began to facet my game and polish out the flaws. When I went to my first regional, with all of 155 masterpoints, I came upon a man with a stubbly beard, and a blonde lady. By this time, I had learned to protect my part scores. This pair would not let me play in 2♠. When they landed in 3♣, I applied the axe. Down 200!

On the next hand partner and I again reached a makeable 2♠. Again, the man balanced back in. When they reached 3♦, I doubled again. Down 200 again!

When we reached the next table, two ladies there asked how we did on that last round. “Oh, I replied, I think we did well.”

“Do you know who they are?”

“No.”

“That’s Barry Crane and Kerri Shuman.”

Now, do you think for a second I would have doubled them had I known who they were?

By the time I moved from Atlanta to Houston, I had 290 masterpoints, 24.99 were gold. That’s right. I needed one 100th of a gold point! But I had to start over with partnerships. To a regional I went. In the Open Pairs we scored well and I made Life Master. Then I attended another regional where we were playing in a Swiss Teams event before the days of flights so you played against the everyone. After six rounds we were 4th. On the last round we drew the leaders, and won 57 gold points!

Now the witches and winged monkeys descended on my journey. I was involved as plaintiff in a 9-year lawsuit and although I played a little, these nine years were mostly a hiatus. My big break came in August, 1988 when the great World Grand Master Dan Morse invited me to partner him in the next sectional’s Open Pairs. You want to play with me? “Yes, next sectional, Open Pairs.” We were 5th overall.

That started a 33-year partnership and a lifelong friendship. Never did we have a quarrel at the bridge table. We bonded further when we went through our wives’ final illnesses together. During that time, we won several regional championships, and more than 100 sectional titles.

Over time, the masterpoints mounted. Early this year I got within striking distance of Emerald Life Master. Darkness descended when my wonderful partner and buddy Dan departed in March. I hoped

to go over 7500 masterpoints with a big win, but I was scheduled to play only two days of the April Sectional and I needed 23 points.

Gil Micheletti Houston

On day one my new partner Timo Erkoc and I were 3rd in the Flight A Open Pairs: 16 to go! Then we won the Bracket 1 Swiss Teams. Over!

The Emerald is perhaps the world’s loveliest gemstone. Deep green, with just a hint of blue, it has for millennia graced the bodies of the beautiful. All natural emeralds have flaws. The finest have the fewest and smallest. It’s a wonderful reflection of my time with

continued from 7

207 Mr. Christopher B Steele

Advanced NABC Master (300 MPs)

bridge. This wonderful game is the most creative in all the world. Its variations are almost infinite. Every time I play, I encounter situations I have never seen before. The road goes on and on, and it is challenging every step of the way.

Life Master (500 MPs*)

172 Barbara A Haley

173 Mrs. Enriqueta Belden 174 Julie B Harrell 174 Laura L Hayes 174 Mr. Jim R Nicas

174 Mrs. Cindy A Skeels

174 Ms. Ann Trammell

176 Debor Cassen

176 Dr. Steve Conover

176 Jim H Porter

183 Mrs. Wilma A Hill

197 Mrs. Paula Park 197 Liz Taylor-Lane 204 Joy Foster 207 Mrs. Susan C Hamm 207 Lois Kertesz 207 Nola F Ray

207 Amy Salisbury

225 Ms. Jackie M McElhaney

225 Mrs. Dorothy O Miller

Bronze Life Master (750 MPs**)

172 Barbara A Haley

173 Mrs. Enriqueta Belden

174 Mrs Nancy L Beard

174 Mrs. Shirley A Double

174 Mrs. Dorothy P Roper

176 Daniel J Boylan

176 Mr. Ramon W Nelson

176 Mr. Christian B Stevens

183 Sharon D Harbach

183 Mrs. Wilma A Hill

207 Charlie Chen

207 Nola F Ray

225 Mrs. Lisa C Looney

225 Carol A Sanderson

Silver Life Master (1000 MPs)

174 Mrs. Genie F Hayden

174 Bill Nash

176 John Brennan

176 Judy Thompson

201 Mr. Bob T Townley-Smith

225 Ginny Jones

225 Sandra J O Bannon

225 Ms. Merlene Gager

225 Mrs. Sally H McAnulty

Ruby Life Master (1500 MPs)

172 Elisabeth Kay

172 Carol A Ramberg

176 Ms. Erica Walker

207 Dr. Richard O Clements

207 Mr. Hayri G Kuterdem

225 Mr. Shreedhara V Ramarathnam

Gold Life Master (2500 MPs)

176 Mrs. Susan K Flick

183 Mr. Bruce Brown

183 Mrs. Susan O'Neil

Sapphire Life Master (3500 MPs)

174 Mrs. Sally Sekac

207 Mr. Geoff Blandy

Diamond Life Master (5000 MPs)

225 Mrs. Mary F Bartley

Emerald Life Master (7500 MPs)

174 Gil Micheletti

*Prior to January 1, 2010 - 300 MPs

**Prior to January 1, 2010- 500 MPs

Unit 172 - San Antonio

By Everette Lewis

First of all, I would like to apologize to the winners of the 2022 awards. I listed the 2021 awards. The actual winners of the 2022 awards were as follows: Beth Gale, Texas Star Award; Rita de Hoyos and Jo Neesvig, Goodwill Awards; Donna Swarthout, Cisse Horton Award; Dave Swarthout, George Gray Award; and Sandy Souchon, Paul Lewis Award.

Unit 172 hosted a pairs game on April 22. The Flight A winners were Laurie-Ann Levin and Jeri Tribo. The Flight B winners were James Cuccia and Joe Ramirez, and the Flight C winners were Gloria Harkey and Yao Hui (Joe) Hsiau.

It followed up with a teams game held May 20. The Flight A winners were Al Fulton, Larry Levin, Everette Lewis, and Tom Trudeau. The Flight B winners were Jeanne Dawley, Susan Hernandez, Carol Ramberg, and Andy Villastrigo, and the Flight C winners were Annie Roy King, Evelyn Pitman, Roxi Raaf, and Yesh Singh.

We anticipate a very nice turnout for the Fourth of July Regional, July 3rd through the 9th. John Hilbig and company have been working hard to make the tournament a great success. Come and get your red and gold points.

Unit 174 - Houston

By Jack LaVigne

Message from President –

Karen Nussbaum

Unit 174 held its Early Summer Sectional in June. We are already preparing for the Awesome Summer Sectional (Open) and I/N Regional which is scheduled for August 10-13. Our October 27-29, Fall Sectional and I/N Regional we will be at Moody Gardens in Galveston. Non-Life Masters will be piling up the Gold! Hope you all come and join us!

Many of our clubs participated in the ACBL Longest Day fundraiser in June. We are anxious to see if any of our clubs will be in the ACBL’s top 50 clubs.

Future Life Masters (FLM)

The Future Life Masters (FLM) of Unit 174 is a board-sponsored program with the mission to support and develop the newest players (0-99 masterpoints) in Greater Houston bridge. FLM is a resource center featuring information about classes, games and tournaments with a freestanding website.

Upcoming Sunday FLM 199er games will be on

• Sunday, July 23

• Sunday, August 30

These games are hosted by the Bridge Academy of West Houston located at the Arabia Shrine Center, 10510 Harwin. 199ers from all over the metroplex are encouraged to participate. FLM 199er Sundays feature an ambassador so singletons are encouraged to attend. We have had as many as nine singletons arrive. Many of the singleton pairs have developed into regular partnerships.

Additionally, FLM hosts an online BBO game every Tuesday at 3:05 for 0-50 masterpoint players. In all, we have had more than 300 tables of bridge, and continue to grow.

Players from all of District 16 are welcome. If you’ve never played in the game, or never played online lease contact us the day before the game. We will help you get set up!

Email or call Mary Ellen Vail: mevail48@gmail. com. 678-910-6402

News from Unit 174 Clubs

Bridge Academy of West Houston

Mentor/Mentee

Mentor/Mentee games are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 10:30. However, since the first Tuesday in July is July 4, the next games are scheduled for Tuesday, July 11 and Tuesday, August 1. If you have not yet signed up you can register online by clicking here. Mentees must have fewer than 300 masterpoints.

Eight is Enough Swiss Teams

The Eight is Enough Swiss Teams is held once a month on a Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The upcoming games are July 23 and August 20.

Future Life Masters

The Bridge Academy of West Houston hosts a Future Life Master game once a month on Sunday. Next games are scheduled for July 23 and August 20 at 1:00 p.m.

Weekly Game Schedule

The Bridge Academy of West Houston has an Invitational Pairs every Wednesday, and a combined Open and 0-299er Pairs every Thursday at 10:30. The games are held at the Arabia Shriner Center.

Charity, NAP and Club Championships are scheduled for July and August.

Bridge Club of Houston

Proof of Covid vaccine is no longer required to play at BCOH.

Tuesday Tidbits

Build a solid foundation with Julie Halperin, Diamond Life Master and ACBL Teacher, and enjoy a free lesson from 9:30-10:10. The game to follow begins at 10:30. We will set up partnerships for those who need it. Text Julie at 713-857-8004 with questions or concerns. Lessons are open to all.

Mentor/Mentee F2F

Mentor/Mentee games are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 10:30 a.m. Sign up at club or contact Judy Cupps at judy_n_al@yahoo.com or by phone 713-320-5592 or Bob Zeigler 713-829-6928 with any questions.

Swiss Teams games

Swiss Teams games are held the fourth Tuesday of each month at 10:30 a.m. Register at the club, check the website calendar for more information.

Saturday Game

Starting in June, Saturday F-2F 299er and open games are every weekend - check BCOH website for details.

July 4 Celebration – 299er and Open Game

Hot dogs will be served. Bring a favorite dish or dessert to share. Games start at 10:30 a.m. with lunch served at the break.

Clear Lake Bridge Club

Clear Lake Bridge Club is located at 16614 Sea Lark Road, Houston 77059. Phone number is 281-480-1911. We welcome visitors to most of our games and charge a table fee of $6/player. We offer open games every day of the week. Sunday is a Swiss Teams game.

The club offers I/N games on Monday-Thursday with a 0-199 (Wednesday afternoon), a 0-299 (Monday afternoon ), and 0-749 on both Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

We are proud of the fact that we are leading the

field of Houston bridge clubs in F-2-F table counts, and our attendance continues to improve. On Friday, June 2, we had a party to celebrate the service that Nancy Guthrie provided not only to CLBC but to Unit 174. We had several visitors from other Houston clubs join her celebration that helped us fill 21 tables. CLBC as well as Unit 174 will miss Nancy’s pleasant manner as well as her work.

Come visit us. We have a nice variety of games. And the price ($5/members, $6 visitors) is right. Visit the CLBC website for details about our games and additional information.

Fort Bend Bridge Club

Fort Bend Duplicate Bridge has a new game on Mondays and a new location on Tuesdays. Mondays arrive by 9:15 and the game starts at 9:30.

Greatwood Recreation Center

7227 Greatwood Parkway

Sugar Land

Tuesdays arrive by 10:15 and the game starts at 10:30.

Arabia Shriner Center

10510 Harwin Drive

Houston

Please call or email in advance so we can start on time.

Eric Watson ewat2004@aol.com

(832) 287-9170

Unit 176 - Dallas

By Scott Nason

The Dallas tournament calendar has been busy. We just completed our (late) Spring Sectional and pre-sectional Unit Game Day. Our first 2023 sectional was held at Lovers Lane Methodist Church March 22-25, along with the District 16 Finals of the Grand National Teams (GNT), Championship Flight and Flight B. (Flights A and C were held in Houston in April.) It was encouraging that we averaged more than 100 tables per day, including the GNTs, as the rebound from the pandemic continues. One thing Dallas seems to do better than most other sectionals is a wonderful and constant array of complimentary snacks and drinks. Thanks to Ros Smith and Mary

Lynn Genovesi for keeping us well fed.

Although attendance was slightly down from March. The June Sectional was also successful as we fielded flighted events in both teams and pairs every day. And thanks again to Ros Smith who fed the players well from morning to evening with wonderful complimentary snacks and drinks.

The face-to-face clubs are hitting their post-pandemic strides, with growing attendance at several clubs and games now available almost every day. The April 30 unit game brought out 110 players for a two-flight championship. Jay Gibson and Martha Young won the open flight, while Rob Bugbee and Cecily Hutchison won the 999er flight. Other strat winners included Rosalind Smith and Nancy Latner (under 3000), Carol Murray and Carol Casey (under 1500) and Louise Shanley and Gari Martin who won the 499 and 299 stratifications.

On June 6, the unit ran a Unit Game Day with two unit games. Both open games were won in the top two stratifications by the pair of Michael Chockley and Bob Scallan – very impressive. The morning game was won in the C strat (under 1500) by John Luebkemann and Ross Ramsey. The 499er flight was won by Stephanie Strom and Bonnie Keene, while the C strat (under 50) was won by Sarah Warnecke and Jose Portela. In the afternoon, the C strat (under 500) was won by Paula and Phillip Schulz.

Unit 176 will be well represented in the 2023 D’Orsi Senior Bowl in Morocco in August. Congratulations to Mike Passell, who is on the USA1 team, and to Bob Hamman, on USA2, and good luck in Marrakesh.

We look forward to seeing you at the tables at our and at our next Unit Game Day on Sunday, July 9, the annual Pro-Am Game on Sunday, August 6, and the Labor Day Regional at the Renaissance Richardson on August 30-September 4.

Hope to see you at any or all these opportunities to reconnect with face-to-face bridge and your bridge communities of friends. Plus any of the several area clubs running games somewhere nearly every day.

Unit 183 - Fort Western

By John Robbins

Unit 183 clubs made some strong efforts over the last couple of months to encourage and develop

newer players, an absolute necessity if the game is going to continue to hold its own against the many distractions of life in the ’twenties. The Denton Studio held a very successful four-day tournament and you can see pictures of the winners later in this issue. Winners not pictured are Ginny Peterson & Donna Michel and Ronald Renckley & Carol Land.

In Arlington, Dorothy Moore is continuing to attract new players and enhance their skills by offering mini lessons followed by limited masterpoints duplicate games on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m.

The Fort Worth DBC has a new series of Sunday Mentor/Mentee games have been a success. Halfhour lessons before the game included instructions about transfers by Mary Jane Orock and a discussion of Jacoby 2NT convention by Ellen Dutcher.

On Unit 183 Awards Day at the Fort Worth Studio the unit recognized members who have made outstanding contributions or had exceptional success this year. The collage you see is courtesy of Randy Eads. It includes new Life Masters and the recipients of Goodwill Award pins and District Star awards, along with Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenny winners. Individual pictures and achievements are posted later in this issue.

The latest new Life Master not included in Awards Day is Wilma Hill, who was recognized with a party in Arlington on the final day of STaC week.

At the thoughtful suggestion of unit president Cynthia Benton, we will occasionally include in a brief profile of players we all know, but don’t necessarily know a lot about. Yes, a lot of our fellow players have had interesting lives before and during the years they have played duplicate bridge. Last month we learned a few things about Jeff and Kim Newman in

connection with the annual Jeff’s Birthday Bash in Arlington. From there what better subject to go to than Linda Spangler. Make sure to read about her in the Member Profile columns in this issue.

Unit 204 - Fort Concho

By Neal Perlman

Ithas been great to see the new players showing up and adding to our games. Great personalities combined with enthusiasm for our game make many of us smile. There was 6-table Mentor-Mentee game May 16. Results: six tables of success!

There was an awesome celebration on May 13 to recognize the two new Life Masters: Dale Harris, San Angelo and Joy Foster, Sterling City. The dedicated bunch who organized wowed us all with great food, story telling, gifts, and song. Ten-and-a-half tables of duplicate followed.

Congratulations to Joy and DaProposed amendments to the Unit 204 bylaws focused on board of directors composition, and the completion of elections. The amendments were approved with a near unanimous vote by the membership on May 13, 2023 by exceeding the 2/3 present requirement. Election of two new board members will occur June 1-29. Outgoing board members are Ginny Noelke and Neal Perlman.

STAC game initial report for Unit 204 with District 16 1st or 2nd place results:

Monday afternoon June

1. Jo Smith-Carl McGill 64.93%

2. Norma Walker-Vicky Fisher 64.78%

Unit 205 - Amistad

By Mary Ann White

The Ajijic Valentine Sectional was held from February 9-12 at the Hotel Danza del Sol in Ajijic. As always, the tournament featured lots of hospitality, as well as prizes for the winners. With everyone’s support, we are slowly starting to grow our tournaments back to their pre-pandemic levels. The overall tournament winners were Patricia and Gonzalo Herrera from Mexico City.

Friday morning Open Pairs was won by Mary Ann White and Bruce Blakely (Flight A), Nicci Beninger and Lane Galloway (Flight B), and Vince Botha and Jennifer Williams (Flight C). On Friday afternoon, the winners were Norinne and Dick Nelson (Flight A) and Neal Hayden and Jerry Boutt (Flights B/C). Saturday’s two-session pairs was won by Gonzalo and Patricia Herrera (Flight A), Nicci Beninger and Lane Galloway (Flight B), and Mary Katherine Wainwright and Janet Mitchell (Flight C). Winning the Sunday Swiss Teams was Patricia and Gonzalo Herrera, playing with Lew and Trudy Crippen. Flight B was captured by Margorie and David Wandler playing with Louise and Michael Creaghan.

Lots of different winners, which is what we love to see! Save the date for next year: February 8-11, 2024. We look forward to seeing you there!

Congratulations to Nicci Beninger and Lane Galloway for a fine performance at the Acapulco Regional held from May 30-June 4. They tied for 7th overall for the tournament and were perennially “1st in B!”

Next year’s dates for the Acapulco Regional are January 16-21, 2024. Patricia Herrera does a superb job organizing this tournament and making sure everyone has a great time. It is held in a lovely (and very safe) area of Acapulco, and the weather should be lovely in January! Why don’t you plan to attend?

Nicci Beninger & Lane Galloway

Joy Foster & Dale Harris

Mexico will also be hosting a Summer Sectional in Mexico City from August 23-26. The tournament is being held in the Polanco area of Mexico City, which is one of the city’s loveliest neighborhoods and home to many world-class museums as well as fine dining and outstanding shopping. If you’ve ever had an inkling to visit this spectacular city, now is your chance! Check the ACBL tournament calendar for details.

And it’s time to start making your plans to attend the Puerto Vallarta Regional tournament to be held from October 30-November 5 at the Westin Resort & Spa. Visit our website for all the details. From there, you can download a flyer, book your room, request a partner, or contact our tournament chair for more information. For periodic updates about the tournament, please “like” us on Facebook!

Congratulations are in order for Ray Hickey, who advanced to the rank of Sapphire Life Master, and John Gray who advanced to Sectional Master.

The unit championship on Saturday, April 22 was won by Nicci Beninger and Lane Galloway with a very fine 68%. Winners of the unit championship on Saturday, May 27 were Nicci Beninger and Boyce Robbins with 63.19%.

In local club news, the Lake Chapala Club has moved to its new location at the Hotel Boutique Sol y Luna in West Ajijic! There is still a bit of unpacking and organizing to do; but the new space looks like it will work out great. Many thanks to John Gray for spearheading this effort. Great job!

And all I can say is Wow! Lew Crippen and Charles Chartier had a great game on Monday, June 5, posting 76.79%. Way to go, you two!

Unit 207 - Texas Capital Bridge

By Barbara Clements

We are so lucky to have two outstanding young people (both Life Masters) playing in our Unit 207 games: Charlie and Andrew Chen. (Their parents are also super.) Andrew’s picture appeared on the front of ACBL’s May Bridge Bulletin. I know these boys are outstanding because they have won many tournaments. I have also played against them, and they are formidable.

Unit 207 hosted a very successful Spring Sectional May 4-7 in Austin with 175 tables. You can check out

the winners later in this issue.

We are pleased to hear that a Georgetown group is planning to reopen in September.

Unit 207 continues to support our members by offering free lectures. The June lecture was be given by Paul Tobias on “Counting for Better Bridge.” The unit is also pleased to support free bridge lessons by Mary Cisneros in San Marcos. We provided funding for a set of books that are available to be checked out by people in the classes. The lessons are meant for new bridge players and those that would like to begin playing bridge again but need a refresher course. Participants are learning to make and respond to opening bids of one in a suit and notrump.

Mary is a former public-school educator with a passion for playing both contract and duplicate bridge in person and online. She has a Best Practices Teacher Certification through the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Her bridge lessons are well-explained and paced to meet the needs of participants. Practice hands are played throughout each lesson to provide participants a chance to get to know one another and to practice concepts learned in class.

Unit 209 - Great Permian Basin

By Ann Parish

We had a busy couple of months, from regular games to a big birthday party to our annual sectional tournament!

Regular Stuff

The salad luncheons are held in Midland on the third Tuesday of each month. On April 18 Patti Heard and Marlene Blumentritt came in 1st, and on May 18 KC Evans and Debbie Conly were 1st. Yay, lunch!

On April 26 Midland hosted the ACBL-Wide Charity Game with 7 ½ tables. Ann Servatius and Charlie Grimes were 1st N/S, and Belle Harris and Debra Jones were 1st E/W. Yay, charity games!

The Royal STaC games were held May 8-14. On May 9 we had seven tables, with Sandy Hill and Marlene Blumentritt coming in 1st in the club as well as the district. Belle Harris and Greg Keys came in 2nd in the club. On May 10, we had six tables, with Ann Servatius and Charlie Grimes coming in 1st in

the club and 2nd in the district. Jimmie Jensen and Sandy Hill were 2nd in the club and 3rd in the district. Yay, STaC winners!

The Odessa club is sorry to say goodbye to Gloria Jackson. She has been a faithful player, but she and her husband are moving to Arizona. Yay and farewell, Gloria!

Ann Servatius’ 90th Birthday Party and Flighted Game

On May 18 Ann Servatius celebrated her 90th birthday. Her son cooked grilled chicken, and the rest of the players provided the side dishes and cake. Ann is a long-time Life Master. She has given bridge lessons to both beginners and experienced players, and she continues to play in Midland. Before her health deteriorated, she was the “Cake Lady” for our birthday parties – and any other occasion she deemed worthy of a cake! Yay, Ann!

charge. Thank you, Marty Massie and Paula Bayley, for hospitality and food. We had great snacks throughout the tournament (as usual). Thanks to Patti Heard for arranging partnerships. Thanks to Larry Pitt and Scott Johnson for setting up the photo booth and taking pictures. The photo booth was a big hit, since all players, winners and not-so-winners alike, were invited to have their pictures taken (and sent to them). Thanks to Mark Beckstrom for his list of local restaurants and sites to visit. Thanks to all the novices who overcame their fears and played in the tournament. Thanks to Marlene Blumentritt and Bill Brooks for helping our director, Don Davis, figure out where things were and how they worked in Midland. Thanks to District 16 for sending us Don Davis, who did a great job directing. And a final thanks to all the people who came from out of town – Abilene, Big Spring, Mason, Lafayette, Hobbs, Lubbock, DFW, and others.

Finally, I offer my own thanks to the Scorecard reporters – Belle, Lonnie, Marlene, and Shirley – and to Evvie, my photo tutor. See you next time.

Unit 225 - East Texas

By Susan Ford

Rose City DBC celebrated two milestones:

With the Midland Sectional coming up, Belle Harris, the teacher for the newcomer players, decided to make Ann’s party a flighted game, since most of the newcomers had never been to a tournament. We had 10 ½ tables, six in the regular invitational game and four in the 0-199 – one of our largest Thursday night games in months. First place N/S in the invitational game were Charlie Grimes and David Hudson, and E/W winners were Belle Harris and Paula Bayley. The 1st place winners in A, B, and C in the 0-199 game were Mary Anne Blair and Ruth Martin. Second in A and B were Pat Lawrence and Mary Kay Burkholder. The newcomers had a great time, and we made a 0-199 side game at nearly every session in the tournament. Yay, flighted games!

Thanks

Lonnie Yee, who chaired the Midland tournament this year, offered thanks to all who contributed to the success of the event. It was our biggest tournament in years! A big part of the success was the people in

Mary Bartley achieved the rank of Diamond. Life Master.Nancy Green achieved the rank of Gold Life Master.

Sandy O’Bannon organized the event with a Fajita Bar and two awesome cakes. Seven tables helped celebrate, as well as a few others who joined in.

Thanks to all that participated. It was very special. Rose City DBC club member, Ethan Collins, graduated from The University of Texas at Tyler. He walked across the stage twice to pick up

Mary Bartley & Nancy Green

Ann Servatius & Friends

his degrees in Economics and Finance.

Collins’ economics professor, Dr. Susan Doty, has a custom of inviting her students to come and learn bridge. Ethan took her up on the invitation and has been playing for 3-4 years at Rose City DBC. Ethan is employed with Vasso Investments and is engaged to be married in December. Rose City DBC Club members honored his accomplishments with a celebration. Congratulations Ethan and we’ll see you at the unit games!

Van Zandt County DBC

Mary Helen Lawrence of Quitman passed away on April 29 after a long illness. She played at the Tuesday Canton game for many years. Her partners, among others, were Anita McKinney and Evelyn Schmidt. Mary hosted an annual Christmas Bridge Party in her home and thoroughly enjoyed going to tournaments and sharing many “girls’ trips” with her bridge friends.

Longview Duplicate Club

See the D16 Scorecard 70% + Club for our big games.

Dottie Pirkle DBC

Our club is still hanging in there, always hoping for more players.

Pittsburg Duplicate Bridge Club (PDBC)

Pittsburg DBC completed Basic Bridge Class. Linda Harrison continues to offer free Learning Table lessons by appointment.

Two New Life Masters:

On May 9 the club hosted a party honoring ACBL Life Masters accomplishments for Dotsy Miller and Jackie McElhaney. The theme of the party was “Two of a Kind” to highlight these two players who have played together from the onset of their Life Master journey. Dotsy and Jackie earned their final points playing in the Unit 225 East Texas Regional in Longview. They played on a Swiss Teams with David

Worrall and Karen Bell.

Linda Harrison, Manager/Director, presented Dotsy and Jackie with nice plaques and a silver charm for their advancement.Mike Graham wrote an interesting poem, “Two of a Kind,” that described their travels together. Mike then presented each with a framed copy of the poem. There was lots of food and

fun enjoyed by all 56 players from the East Texas area. Nacogdoches DBC

We celebrated several birthdays since my last report. Franklin Rude, Bonnie Todd, Susan Jennings, and Gay Roach all turned “Plenty Nine.” Jack Yarbrough and Bob Echols came to play with us after several months absence. We had four tables of bridge – a red-letter day for this small club.

Gay Roach went to the Denver Regional and spent some quality time with Sandra O’Bannon (from Unit 225) and Cheryl Landers (formerly from Unit 225) and her crew from Cheyenne. Just a taste of the trip:

Email to Gay’s family:

“So, at one end of the block there is a Cannabis shop, then a liquor store, then my Renaissance Hotel, then a Super 8 turned into a homeless shelter, and then the Chick-fil-A at the other end of the block. I walked down early in the morning every day for breakfast. On the way back a car pulled up from the side street and the driver waved me across in front of him. When I got half way across he rolled down his window and said, ‘You look absolutely beautiful, by the way!’ Talk about starting the day off right!”

This was a reply from Herr Professor Jones, her oldest grandson:

“So if I got that right, you woke up in Denver, smoked a joint, grabbed some liquor, hit Chick-fil-A for breakfast, got a nice compliment from a complete stranger on the way home – possibly homeless but at least the owner of a car. As the 90s rapper Ice-Cube sang, ‘Damn straight, it was a good day.’”

Dotsy Miller & Jackie McElhancy

Linda-Jackie-Dotsy

Hope to see everyone at the Non-Life Master Regional combined with an Open Sectional in Tyler July 27-29.

Unit 353 - Wichita Falls

By Marsha May

Unit353 had good news and bad news last April, but by the end of May all was well. On April 10, Marsha May, Lois Roberson, Suzanne Sosa and Cathy Zinn went to the Oklahoma City Spring Regional. Since Marsha and Suzanne are C players, they hoped that Lois and Cathy could help them win some gold points. Unfortunately, there were no Knockout games and they were not there on Sunday for the Swiss Teams game. Lois and Cathy did great and won 6.7 gold and 1.53 red. Marsha and Suzanne were happy they won 1.45 gold and .54 red.

On May 13, the same four members went on the Western Caribbean Sectional at Sea which was so much fun. Once again there were no team games. Lois and Cathy won 5.91 silver and Marsha and

Suzanne won 10.55 silver. On May 19 (their last day at sea), Marsha and Suzanne had their first 70% game coming in 1st overall.

Unit 353 found out in mid-April that our landlords were going up on the rent and so our clubs could not afford to stay. We therefore started packing and got everything ready for the move on May 31. The new location for both Suite 16 Bridge and the Bridge Club of Wichita Falls Bridge is: 95 Sarasue

Wichita Falls, Texas 76302

We are excited about our new location and pleased that we will be able to continue playing the game we love. All is well!

Intermediate/Newcomer Resources

Games and Classes for Newer Players - Come Join us!

Zoom Spanish Lecture Series - Third Saturday of every month at 12:30 pm.

Zoom Intermediate Lecture Series - Fourth Saturday of every month at 12:30 pm.

0-50 masterpoint game: Every Monday at 4:00 pm

District 16 is offering to all 0-50 masterpoint players a 12-board game on BBO for $3.00 every Monday at 4:00. You can ask a partner to play, or sign in at the partnership desk and pick up a new partner.

Practice, practice, practice. Your experiences at the table can be your best teacher. A director and assistants will be on hand to offer guidance during the game

For more information, email Beginner20Bridge@gmail.com

0-99 masterpoint game: Every day at 6:00 pm (CT)

The “99er Nite Club!” games are offered seven days a week at 6:00 pm CT. If you are a 99er, ask your club if they are participating. Your club must “opt in”. If your club has any questions, ask them to contact Nancy Strohmer, nastrohmer@yahoo.com

Suzanne Sosa, Lois Roberson, Marsha May and Cathy Zinn

Houston Unit 174

I/N NonLife Master Regional (Gold/Red) & Awesome August Sectional (Silver) Aug 10th - Aug 13th

ARABIA SHRINE CENTER

10510 Harwin Dr, Houston, TX 77036

$10 lunches will be available all 4 days

Stratification

Playing Schedule

*Players may play one or both sessions

Open Pairs

A:3000+ X:750-3000 Y:0-750

Gold Rush Pairs

A:750-500 B: 200-500 D:0-200

Side Pairs

A:1500-3000 B: 750-1500 D:0-750

Bracketed Swiss

Brackets of 7-9 teams

Be Scent-sitive

TOWNEPLACE SUITES by Marriott

10610 Westpark Dr, Houston, TX 77042

Call and ask for Anthony Imes to get 15% discount (713) 893-1638

Table Fees per Session

All Days: $15 ($4 more for lapsed members) Table Fees are cashless (credit card only)

Sarah Springer Siraj Jiwani (281) 904 - 5791 idontplayalot174@gmail.com

Partnerships

Paddy Fiorino (713) 417-5985

paddyfiorino@yahoo.com

I/N

Maria Turner

(832) 633-9433

jturner102@att.net

Guest Speakers - 2:00 Thursday, Friday & Saturday

Thursday: Joyce Ryan

Tell Me What I’ll Say

Friday: Vinh Tran

Spiral Raises

Saturday: Gary King

What Now?

The FUTURE LIFE MASTERS of Unit 174 is a Board sponsored program for 0-99ers

FLM provides resources for new players by:

Maintaining a website for FLMers about Houston bridge Providing information regarding local classes and teachers. Working with area clubs and facilities to offer entry-level games that are competitive social and relaxed Assistance in navigating local Sectional and Regional Tournaments

FLM also provides services for our beginning bridge players:

Sponsoring a Sunday afternoon 199er game for all Houstonians. Once a month in Central Houston

Sunday, May 28th at Arabia Shriners; 1:00pm

Sunday, Jun 25th at Arabia Shriners; 1:00pm

Offering online BBO games ‘Choose Houston FLM’ 0-49ers

Tuesday afternoon at 3:05

0-20 Supervised Play

Second Saturdays at 9:00

Assisting in partner-search for the many players who launch their bridge journeys as singletons

Visit

www.FLM174.org

Card Reading

By Jack LaVigne

In this article we will look at an advanced play involving the trump suit. The trump coup occurs when declarer discovers a key card is onside but lacks the trumps in dummy to take advantage of it. Declarer must attempt to reduce the number of trumps held to the same number as held by the right-hand opponent. Declarer arranges the entries so that the lead will be from dummy at the end of the hand.

Assume spades are trump and North is declarer. South ♠ -

The bidding should best be forgotten. North opened 1♠ and East made a takeout double. After that North-South reached an ambitious contract of six spades.

The opening lead was the ♥ Q. Dummy wins the ♥A. With the ♣A of clubs to lose declarer sees that the trump finesses must be on. Declarer could play to drop the stiff king of spades offside but this doesn’t seem very likely.

Declarer calls for a spade from dummy and hooks the ♠10 which wins. Things are looking up.

Declarer returns to dummy with the king of hearts and finesses the ♠J which also wins but East shows out. Things have gotten darker.

Declarer pauses to consider whether there is any hope of making the contract. The dummy holds no more trumps so the only way the ♠K can be captured is through a coup. Declarer must try to reduce the number of trumps held to two (the same number as West) and wind up at the twelfth trick with the lead in dummy.

With the lead from dummy declarer calls for the

♣6. East is helpless. If the ♠9 is played, North plays the

♠Q. If the♠K is played, North plays the♠A.

Let’s look at the complete hand. South

Without planning it out to the end, the first step must be to lead a club.

East takes the ♣A and returns the ♦2, Declarer wins the ♦Q in dummy. Next, declarer ruffs a heart.

At this point a new danger has arisen. Based upon the takeout double and the lead of the ♦2, declarer visualizes West’s distribution to be 4-3-3-3. If declarer goes to dummy and trumps a heart, West will pitch a diamond and declarer will be unable to cash the remaining two.

Declarer leads ♦A and another diamond to dummy’s ♦Q, all following suit.

Now things look better. Declarer ruffs a heart and West pitches a club.

Finally, declarer leads a club to dummy’s ♣K and ends up in the position shown at the beginning of the article.

Ribak | 1939 - 2023

By Everette Lewis

Abe

North can count lucky stars to have made this slam. It required both the ♣A and ♠K to be onside. Once this happened and spades did not break 3-2, North also needed to find West with 4333 distribution. After all this good luck the opponents were rolling their eyes wondering what they had done to deserve this disastrous result.

Summary

In a trump coup declarer attempts to finesse through the right-hand opponent with no trumps left in the dummy. To accomplish this feat, declarer must reduce the number of trumps held to the same number as the right-hand opponent and maneuver to have the lead in dummy at the end of the hand.

In Memoriam

Ribak was one of the nicest men ever known. Born in 1939 in Mexico, he immigrated with his family to San Antonio when he was eight.

He attended Thomas Jefferson High School, graduating in 1957. After serving in the U.S. Army, he attended Trinity University and St. Mary’s Law School and practiced law for 45 years; finding time to serve in the Texas State Legislature for four years. He often performed services for veterans free of charge.

Abe also served in Jewish Service Organizations and as a docent for the San Antonio Zoo. He loved reading, especially History and Politics; traveling; and playing bridge with Myra, his devoted wife of 60 years. Abe passed away June 8, 2023.

Abe

Sheila Harrison

Mary Helen Lawrence

Larry Peterson

Six spades bid and made.

Jack LaVigne is a Platinum Life Master, District 16 Recorder, past president of Unit 174 and volunteer at the Bridge Academy of West Houston. Jack can be contacted at jacklavigne@att.net

♥ Unit 183 Award Winners ♦

Ace of Clubs

Mini-McKenney

Texas Star

Good Will

New Life Masters

Tawana Arnett

Ken Javor

Connie Javor

Hal Schulz

Alice Wright

Sharon Stewart

Brenda Darby 0-5 MP

Brenda Martin 5-20 MP John Fee 20-50 MP

Robert Stevens 50-100 MP

Kim Satterfield 100-200 MP Laura Pantano 200-300 MP

Wayne Corbett 300-500 MP

Randy Eads 500-1000 MP Carol Welch 1000-1500 MP

Lorraine Little 1500-2500 MP Ellen Dutcher 2500-3500 Millie Williams 3500-5000

Gary Neisler 5000-7500 MP

Pat Cassidy 7500-10000 MP Nancy Kornegay 10000+ MP

Brenda Darby 0-5 MP Brenda Martin 5-20 MP John Fee 20-50 MP

Fran Howard 50-100 MP John Saylor 100-200 MP Brian Eaton 200-300 MP

Ross Ramsey 500-1000 MP Cynthia Benton 1000-1500 Dorothy Moore 1500-2500

Nancy Peterson 2500-3500 MP Millie Williams 35005000 MP

Gary Neisler 5000-7500 MP Pat Cassidy 7500-10000 MP Nancy Kornegay 10000+ MP

David Adams Gary Neisler

Randy Eads with Cynthia Benton our Unit President

Friday - Bracket 1

Sandra Clark, Rick Barrett, Harold Copeland, Raleigh Williamson

♥ 2023 Election Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 174

April 14-16 - Friday - Sunday - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Saturday - Bracket 3

Linda Drake, Kathy Hughes, Hasin Jinna, David Littmann

Friday - Bracket 2 Paddy Fiorino, Scott Cantor, Gregory Andrews, Jay Evert

Friday - Bracket 3

Sue Manning, Sam Khayatt, Lauri Laufman, Frederick Gregory

Saturday - Bracket 1

Sally Wheeler, Buddy Hanby, Tom Breed, Joe Quinn

Saturday - Bracket 2

Herbert Kalman, Robert Reichek, Harry Selldin, Alfred Fortier III

Sunday - Bracket 1 James Breihan, Timucin Erkoc, Gil Micheletti, Mike Doyle

Sunday - Bracket 2

Sandra Clark, Rick Barrett, Harold Copeland, Raleigh Williamson

April 14-16 -Friday - Sunday - Pairs

Sunday - Bracket 3

Bob Canobbio, Ashok Shingavi, Jabeen Farooki, Rathindra Dutt

Sunday - Bracket 4 Bob Canobbio, Ashok Shingavi, Jabeen Farooki, Rathindra Dutt

New Life Masters

Friday - Open - A David Ticen, Scott Nason

Saturday - Open - A John Zilic, Virginia Zilic

Sunday - Side -A Chris Kollenberg, Clif Rice

Jim McCormick Julie Harrell

April 15-16 -Saturday - Sunday - Grand National Teams

A

Scott Nason, Bob Friz, David Ticen, Eric Diamond

C Hua Chen, Janice Hardcastle, Nathan Yee, Kyo Chen, Utkarsh Koshti, Christopher Steele

Thur s Sept 21st - Sat, Sept 23r d

Stratified Swiss Teams, single session 10am, 2:30pm

Stratified Open Pairs, single session 10am, 2:30pm

Stratified 499er Pairs, single session 10am, 2:30pm

Sun, Sept 24th

Bracketed Swiss Teams 10am & TBD

$120 per 4 per son team, includes lunch

Additional player s, $6 each

Chairs:

STRATIFICATIONS

(Pair & team games based on average MPs)

Open Pairs:

A: 3000+, B: 750-3000, C: 0-750

499er Pairs:

A: 300-499, B: 100-300, C: 0-100

Director has discretion on setting brackets.

Basic Chart for 499ers; Open Chart for all other events.

Entry Fees: $12/session

($4 additional per session for unpaid ACBL members)

Please Note: Proof of Covid vaccination is no longer required to play at the BCA.

Mark Craig: markac4430@att.net K 512-496-8190

Rebecca Brown: brownrebeccag@gmail.com L 210-885-4550

Partnerships: Pat Berry: ppatberry@aol.com

This is a Fragrance-Free Tournament

♥ Austin 0-200 Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 207

Saturday April 22 - Saturday April 23 - Pairs

Saturday Mary Graf, Marcia Houston

Sunday Christopher La Chance, Luke Olbermann

♥ Austin Spring Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 207

Thursday May 4 - Saturday May 7 - Pairs

Thursday - Open - A Nunzio Martorina, Kathryn Bailey

Thursday - Open - B Ann Kuehler, Ronald Kunkel

Thursday - Open - C Susan Breeding, K C Balasubramanian

Thursday - Open - A Ron LaCour, Paul Tobias

Friday - Open - A Forrest Gray, Rosemary Kelley

Friday - Open - C Jim Ferguson, Karen O'Shea

Saturday - Open - A Ira Hessel, Kenneth Schutze

Saturday - Open -B Mark Craig, Frank Floca

Saturday - Open - C Ann Denton, Terrie Kolvoord

Saturday - Open - A Nancy Joe, Xinpeng Huang

Saturday - Open - B Richard Clements, Barbara Clements

Saturday - Open - C Dionne Green, Curtis Hitt

Saturday - 0-299 -A Jamie Southerland, Belva Courts

Thursday May 4, Friday May 5 & Sunday May 7 - Stratified Swiss Teams

Thursday - ABC Deborah Carver, Cindy Walthall, Cindy Johnson, Sue Alt

Thursday - A Donna Swarthout, Charlene Sands, Virgil Massey, Dave Swarthout

Thursday - A Wiley McMinn III, Patti Monroe, Richard Day, Cheri Gross (NP)

Friday - A Joe Black, Wiley McMinn III, Jerry Barrett, Anne LaCour

Friday - BC Mark Alpert, Judy Alpert, Cincy Bell (NP), Tom Bell (NP)

Sunday - X Steve Chen, Andrew Chen, Charle Chen, Sarah Chen

Sunday - B Paul Johnston, Simone Scumpia, Linda Gaston, W Kenneth Davis

Denton Bridge Studio NLM Sectional Winners ♦

Unit 183

April 12-14 - Wednesday - Pairs

Wednesday 1st - N/S Kim Satterfield, Laura Pantano

Wednesday 1st -E/W Ronald Renckley, Carol Land

Wednesday 1st - N/S

Maxine Henrickson, Betty Gordy

Wednesday 1st -E/W John Fee, Brenda Schrader

Thursday 1st Kenneth Melvin, Bill Brooks

Thursday 2nd

Maitland Dade, Rick Harwell

Thursday 2nd Peter Clive, Diana Clive

Friday 1st Dolores McCuistian, Lori

Friday 2nd

Slocum

Eldon Joersz, Hanuman Goel

Tyler Tournament of Roses

Sectional & Non Life Master Regional

July 27, 28 & 29, 2023

Holiday Inn South Broadway

5701 S. Broadway

Tyler, TX 75703

903-561-5800

Bridge Rate $89.00—Code B29

StratiÞed & Non Life Master Pairs

Thursday & Friday 10:00 & 2:30

Bracketed Swiss Teams

Saturday 10:00AM and TBD (lunch provided)

StratiÞcations

Open Pairs: A 2500+, B

1000-2500, C: 0-1000

NLM Pairs: A: 300-750 B:

100-300, C: 0-100 (Based on average master points of pairs/teams)

Tournament Chairs

Shreedhara “Rathnam” Ramarathnam

svr7503@yahoo.com — 903-561-0398

Sandra O’Bannon

sobann715@suddenlink.net — 903-561-1724

Partnership Chair

Nancy Green

nancy@tcrtyler.com — 903-574-4241

Entry Fees

$14 per session

Swiss Teams

$128 (Including lunch)

ACBL Tournament Director

Scott Humphrey

scott.humphrey@acbl.org

All ACBL COVID protocols to be followed. Fragrance free please.

Friday - B Brian Cleveland, Peggy Frick

♥ Tall City Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 209

Friday June 2 - Saturday June 3 - 0-199 Pairs

Friday - C Margaret Masten, Alma Mary

Friday - A Margaret Masten, Alma Mary

Friday - B Kaye Houston, Michael Houston

Friday - C Mary Tift, Ann Brooks

Saturday - A Alma Mary, Margaret Masten

Saturday - B Tracy Dau, Scott Dau

Saturday - A Larry Pitts, Scott Johnson

Tournament Director

Saturday - C Kaye Houston, Michael Houston

Don Davis

Friday June 2 - Saturday June 3 - Oprn Pairs

Friday - A Charles Mogged Jr., Jan Mooged

Friday - B Paula Bayley, Paula Edwards

Friday - B Linda Buzan, Shirley Davenport

Friday - C Kay Arrell, Sandy Hill

Saturday - A Linda Buzan, Shirley Davenport

Saturday - B Kathy Young, Travis Woodward

Saturday - C Beverly Jooston, James Alvis

Saturday - A Mary Harrington, Jerrold Harrington,

Saturday - B Rebecca Barton, Janece Tucker

Saturday - C Charles Mogged, Jr., Jan Mogged

Saturday - A Rebecca Barton, Janece Tucker

Saturday - B Belle Harris, Debra Jones

Sunday June 4 -Stratified Swiss Teams

Saturday - C Beverly Jooston, James Alvis

A, B & C Travis Woodward, Betty Moore, Linda Buzan, Amanda Shaw

Wednesday - Open B Ed Yetter, Bonnie Kay Yetter

♥ Dallas Summer Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 176

Wednesday June 7 - Thursday June 8 - Pairs

Thursday - Open A Nancy Passell, Petra Hamman

Wednesday - Open A John Spessard, Brian Dalton (NP)

Wednesday - Open B Michael Chockle, Bob Scallan

Wednesday - Open C Margaret Cooley, Barbara McCune

Thursday - 299er A Sarah Warnecke, Jose Portela

Thursday - Open B Brian Gelles, Janet Gelles

Thursday - Open A Jerry Derby, Gerry McKim

Thursday - Open B Tom Whitesides, Lucky Snyder

Wednesday June 7 - Friday June 9 - Swiss Teams

Thursday - Open C Jim Porter, Al Joersz

Wednesday - Brkt 1 Jerry Frankel, Allan Chernov, Ross Ramsey, John Luebkemann

Wednesday - Brkt 2 Kathleen Beasley, Ken Hajek, Jyoti Boppana, Walter Netschi

Wednesday - A Steve Kornegay, Nancy Kornegay, Sheri Bumgardner, Mark Bumgardner

Wednesday - X-Tie Scott Nason, Tomi Storey, Gerry McKim, Milt Neher

Thursday - Brkt 2 Tanis Weiss, Cecily Hutchison, Rob Bugbee, John Ellis

Thursday - A Kristen Onsgard, Emily Harrell, Milt Neher, Scott Nason

Friday - Brkt 1 Bill Staats, Kimmel Jones, Steve Kornegay, Nancy Kornegay

Friday - Brkt 2

Tony Arthur, Carol Arthur . Ed Yetter, Bonnie Kay Yetter

Friday - Brkt 3 Bob Clark, Alma Farley, Larz Smith, Anne Smith

♥ Early Summer Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 174

Friday June 9 - Saturday June 10 - Pairs

Friday - Open A John Zilic, Virginia Zilic

Friday June 9 - Sunday June 11 - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Saturday - 0-299 D Joy Cowan, Mike Cowan

Friday - Bracket 1 Sarah Springer, Timucin Erkoc, Bill Nash, Debbie Nash

Friday - Bracket 2 Rupa Shah, Ashok Shingavi, Susan Domsalla, Lori Jacobs

Friday - Bracket 3 Linda Drake, Sam Khayatt, Hasin Jinna, Frederick Gregory

Friday - Bracket 4 Darlene Thompson, Betty Schell, Audrey Vinyard, Robert Boyd

Saturday - Bracket 1 Buddy Hanby, Sally Wheeler, Tom Breed, Timucin Erkoc, Gil Micheletti (np)

Saturday - Bracket 2 Andrew Remson, Sam Khayatt, William Daniel III, Frederick Gregory (np)

Saturday - Bracket 3 Hua Chen, Kyo Chen, Kas Rangan, Steven Bell

Saturday - Bracket 4 Laura Chandler, Jeannie Stone, Brad Chandler, Donald Bell

Sunday - Bracket 2 Janice Sandberg, Harold Copeland, Eric Sandberg, Raleigh Williamson

Sunday - Bracket 3 Chuck Gillis, Robert Reichek, Herbert Kalman, Aleksandr Adelman

Sunday - Bracket 4 Hua Chen, Kyo Chen, Charles Woody, Rao Chalasani

♥ Austin Summer NLM Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 207

Saturday June 10 Pairs

Saturday - A Steve Luning, Nancy Marcus

Saturday - B & C Luke Obermann, Chris La Chance

Saturday - A Brenda McIndoo, Teresa Mack

Sunday June 11 Pairs

Saturday - B Ken Burton, Nancy Spaulding

continued from 21 - I/N Resources

Sunday - A & B Phyllis P. Jordan, Mary Cowan

Lynn Berg provides mini-lessons @ 5:30 pm and these are bigger games offering more masterpoints!

0-199 masterpoint game: Every day at 6:05pm (CT)

The “199er Nite Club!” games are offered seven days a week at 6:05 pm CT. If you have any questions, contact Nancy Strohmer, nastrohmer@yahoo.com

For additional newcomer information, click: D16 Intermediate/Newcomer Info.

For all tournament information, click: D16 Calendar.

For the comprehensive newcomer services guide. Click Here. Contact information is also provided, if you have questions.

Dallas Labor Day Regional

August 30 – September 4

RENAISSANCE DALLAS RICHARDSON HOTEL

900 E Lookout Dr. Richardson, TX 75082

Rate: $104/night (reserve by August 8 th)

Register online at https://tinyurl.com/DLDR2023

ACBL members $15 per session + $4 per session for unpaid members. Guest membership available for new members.

JUST $104!

SELF PARKING STILL ONLY $2!

SAME GREAT DALLAS HOSPITALITY!

10:00

Gold Rush Pairs 0-750 Play for Gold!

5 Events Wed-Sun 10:00 & 2:30

Bracketed Swiss Teams (1 st Session)

Stratified Open Pairs (1 st Session)

GOLD RUSH PAIRS (1st Session)

Morning Side Series

299er Stratified Pairs (Single Session)

2:30 Bracketed Swiss Teams (2 nd Session)

Stratified Open Pairs (2 nd Session)

GOLD RUSH PAIRS (2nd Session)

Afternoon Side Series

299er Stratified Pairs (Single Session)

Newcomer Reception for 499ers

Friday after PM session!

Food! Drinks! Fun!

Near the Registration Desk

Tournament Co-Chairs:

Ed Yetter: eyetter@sbcglobal.net

Tomi Storey: skeeter303@yahoo.com

Director in Charge: Kevin Perkins

Partnerships: Bob Holliday

PartnershipU176@gmail.com

After August 29, contact partnership desk on site.

299er Pairs Single Sessions Wed-Sun 10:00 & 2:30

Side Game Series Single Sessions Best two games Combined for Overall awards.

Sept 4 Schedule

10:00

Strati-Flighted AX Swiss Teams (2 Session Play-through)

Strati-Flighted BCD Swiss Teams (2 Session Play-through)

Stratified Open Pairs (Single Session)

1:30

Stratified Open Pairs (Single Session)

Stratifications and Flighting Stratified Events

A:4000+ B:1250-4000 C 0-1250

Strati-Flighted Swiss: A:5000+ X: 0-5000 (A and X play together)

Strati-Flighted BCD Swiss: B:1500-3000 C: 500-1500 D: 0-500 (BCD play together)

Note: for Strati-Flighted events: Qualification is based on the maximum MPs of any player on the pair/team. Stratification within the flight is based on average MPs.